Buffalo Grove brings new take on a classic in Peter and the Starcatcher

Buffalo Grove High School Theater Arts Program presents a new adaptation of the classic Peter Pan in its fall play, Peter and the Starcatcher.

This century-old story of how a miserable orphan becomes the “Boy Who Would Not Grow Up” is retold with limitless possibilities of imagination. Performances will be held Thursday, October 12 at 7 p.m.; Friday, October 13 at 6 p.m.; Saturday, October 14 at 2 p.m.; and Saturday, October 14 at 7 p.m.

The play is a wildly theatrical adaptation of Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson’s best-selling novels, and was conceived for the stage by directors, Roger Rees and Alex Timbers, and written by Rick Elice, with music by Wayne Barker. From marauding pirates and jungle tyrants to unwilling comrades and unlikely heroes, Peter and the Starcatcher playfully explores the depths of greed and despair, and the bonds of friendship, duty and love.

The show’s plot is told as follows: A young orphan and his mates are shipped off from Victorian England to a distant island ruled by the evil King Zarboff. They know nothing of the mysterious trunk in the captain’s cabin, which contains a precious, otherworldly cargo. At sea, the boys are discovered by a precocious young girl named Molly, a Starcatcher-in-training who realizes that the trunk’s precious cargo is starstuff, a celestial substance so powerful that it must never fall into the wrong hands. When the ship is taken over by pirates – led by the fearsome Black Stache, a villain determined to claim the trunk and its treasure for his own – the journey quickly becomes a thrilling adventure.

Tickets are $7 at the door. Online tickets include a service charge and may be purchased at http://bghs.d214.org/tickets/. All seating is general admission. The box office opens 30 minutes before curtain time. Cash and checks are accepted at the door.

The performance runs approximately two and a half hours, which includes a 15-minute intermission where concessions are available for sale. For more information, call (847) 718-4071.